Zomato, IRCTC among most sold stocks by mutual funds in May; check what shares fund managers bought & sold BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 traded volatile during the month of May, falling more than 2.5% each. During this period mutual fund managers were seen selling large-cap stocks such as Zomato, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and even Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). On the other hand, HDFC AMC, JSW Steel, Dabur India and Infosys were some of the most bought stocks in May. During the month, inflows ex-NFOs increased to Rs 18,500 crore against Rs 12,800 crore in April, a 45% jump, analysts at ICICI Direct said. Top largecap stocks sold IRCTC was the second most sold stock as the value of IRCTC shares held by fund houses dropped from Rs 83 crore to Rs 57 crore. The number of shares held was down to 8 lakhs from 11 lakhs. Zomato was also among the stocks that were sold. The number of shares held by fund managers was down at 19.43 crore, down from 21.69 crore. The value of holding was at Rs 1,450 crore from Rs 1,557 crore. Other stocks that were sold include Piramal Enterprises, Zydus Lifesciences, JSW Energy, Indian Oil, among others. Most bought largecap stocks HDFC Asset Management Company was the most purchased largecap stock in May. ICICI Direct data showed that fund managers held 37 lakh shares of the AMC at the end of May, compared to 18 lakhs in April. The value was up at Rs 695 crore, from Rs 364 crore. Dabur India was the second most bought stock. Fund houses had 4.73 crore shares of the company with them in May, up from 4.09 crore a month earlier. JSW Steel shares were also among the most purchased ones accompanied by SBI Cards and Payment Services. Other stocks included Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco Industries, Jubilant FoodWorks, Tech Mahindra, and Infosys. Midcap stocks that were in demand Among Midcap stocks, L&T Finance Holdings was the most purchased stock in May by fund managers. The number of shares increased in May to 3.45 crore from 2.43 crore in April, the value increased to Rs 262 crore from Rs 213 crore. Escorts Kubota shares with fund managers increased to 76 lakhs from 55 lakhs a month ago. The value of holding increased to Rs 1,235 crore from Rs 902 crore. Other midcap stocks that were bought include Devyani International, Vodafone Idea, Laurus Labs, Navin Fluorine International, among others. Midcap stocks sold Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC was among the most sold midcap stocks by mutual funds in May. The number of shares held was down to 52 lakh from 77 lakhs while value of holdings dropped to Rs 221 crore from Rs 403 crore in April. Baba Ramdev-owned Ruchi Soya Industries was the second most sold stock. Fund Managers ditched shares of the company with the number of stocks in portfolios dropping to 36 lakh from 48 lakh in April. Aditya Birla Capital’s shares were also sold by fund houses in May. The total holding was down to 2.96 crore from 3.78 crore earlier in April. The value was down at Rs 299 crore from Rs 456 crore a month ago. Other stocks that were sold include Varun Beverages, Canara Bank, Jindal Steel & Power, Punjab National Bank, ACC among others.
Retail inflation in milk was reported at 8.85% in May 2023. The milk inflation has remained elevated at over 6% since August 2022. Despite India being the largest milk producer since 1998, the commodity has been the second biggest factor after cereals such as rice and wheat in driving up retail inflation in the last fiscal.
Milk has the second highest weight in the food and beverages basket of the consumer price index at 6.61%, a notch lower than cereals and products with a 9.67% weight. Organised players, including Mother Dairy and Amul, hiked prices multiple times in the last one year citing higher fodder cost, robust demand and some impact due to reports of lumpy skin disease.
Industry sources said feed cost, which has a share of more than 65% in the cost of production of milk, has increased to Rs 20/kg from Rs 8 a year ago. The finance ministry in April had attributed the elevated milk inflation to a demand supply mismatch and said it could be one of the factors apart from volatile international crude oil prices and constrained supplies of milk would influence the country’s inflation trajectory.
“Milk production has been impacted by a lumpy skin disease infecting millions of cattle in late 2022,” the ministry said in the monthly economic review, adding that the vaccination drive against the disease is expected to curb the spread and immune the cattle against the skin disease.
According to official data, currently India is the world’s largest milk producer, and has a share of 23% in global milk production. For the first time in decades, the country’s milk production is likely to have stagnated in 2022-23 due to Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle across several states and the lagged effect of Covid-19 in the form of stunting of the animals, a senior official with department of animal husbandry and dairying recently had stated. The milk production was estimated at 221 million tonne in 2021-22.